Information processing systems increasingly utilize reconfigurable virtual resources to meet changing user needs in an efficient, flexible and cost-effective manner. For example, data center infrastructure typically comprises compute, storage and network resources which run a mix of application workloads. The infrastructure is managed by an IT operations team that generally works in isolation from an application development team while the utilization requirements of the infrastructure is determined by the application workloads which run on the infrastructure. The application development team has limited knowledge of the infrastructure, while the IT operations team has limited knowledge of the applications. This can create significant issues in the definition and interpretation of the particular infrastructure required to run a given application workload at an optimal quality level. The above-noted disconnect between application development and IT operations can therefore result in sub-optimal workload placement within the data center infrastructure. Accordingly, there is a need for improved techniques for policy-based infrastructure management in information processing systems.